John Wadham, Director of Liberty:

"The Home Secretary is clearing the way for internment for foreigners - by opting out of part of the Convention on Human Rights at a time when none of the other 40-plus European countries who have signed it see the need to do so. The situation in the UK does not warrant such an extreme attack on a historic core principle of British justice.

"Arbitrary detention - locking someone up indefinitely, without trial or any hope of release - is wrong in principle. Liberty's Human Rights Litigation Unit will seek to challenge this in the European courts as soon as possible. "Anti-terrorism laws in this country have historically led to innocent people being locked up for many years; the danger is that these new proposals will lead to the same injustice".